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Book 22 (of 52) – Promise Not To Tell

Promise Not To Tell – Jennifer McMahon

Promise Not To Tell, the debut novel from Jennifer McMahon, tells the story of a girl murdered in 1971 and a similar murder in 2002.  A nurse from Seattle tries to figure out who’s behind the current murder while dealing with her guilt from the old murder.

While this was McMahon’s first book, it was my fourth experience with her work.  You could see the beginnings of the talent that would shine through in her later works.  Not to say this wasn’t good, but it wasn’t her strongest work.  As a debut, though, it worked out pretty well.

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Fitbit III: Week 41

What looked to be a disappointing week got turned around thanks to a trip to California.  Sunday got the week off to a slow start despite a trip out to see the new Thor film with Hayley and Val.  Monday was a nice bounce back, coming close to 8500 steps thanks to a trip to North to work out my issues with Hayley.  Tuesday and Wednesday were both back down under goal, despite Hayley’s goodbye party.  Thursday bounced back once again, due to post-work packing.  Friday started with a flight to California, followed by a trip to Hollywood and the Warner Brothers Studio Tour.  Saturday came 410 steps shy of 20,000 thanks to spending the day in Disneyland.

Total steps: 63,339

Daily average: 9048.4

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2017 BBWAA Award Predictions

2016wsballThe Baseball Writers of America have announced the finalists for their awards for the just completed baseball season, which will be announced next week.  It is a good bet that few of my original predictions for the winners will be accurate.  Hopefully, these new predictions will be slightly better, especially since I’ll have a 33% chance of being right.

American League

Most Valuable Player: Jose Altuve, Aaron Judge, Jose Ramirez

Francisco Lindor was was my pre-season selection to win the award this year, but he was left out of the top three in part to his teammate Jose Ramirez.  Judge should be a shoo-in for Rookie of the Year, leaving Jose Altuve to take home the award, adding to his hardware.

Cy Young Award: Corey Kluber, Chris Sale, Luis Severino

Ironically, in his first year away from the White Sox, Chris Sale will finally win his first Cy Young award.

Manager of the Year: Terry Francona, A.J. Hinch, Paul Molitor

Once again, I didn’t make any predictions for this award prior to the season.  I’m guessing the surprising Twins will give Paul Molitor some love, but A.J. Hinch should take home the award.

Rookie of the Year: Andrew Benintendi, Aaron Judge, Trey Mancini

Another award I didn’t predict prior to the season.  Judge just might be a unanimous selection.

National League

Continue reading →

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College Basketball Tipoff

The Purdue Boilermakers kick of the 2017-2018 season today, meaning it’s time to take our second ever look at the results of the now whopping 14 college basketball games I have attended in my lifetime. You’d think it would be more, since I was a big fan and we had a great team while I was in school, but for some reason I only made it to 2 games while enrolled in college. The other 12 have been post-graduation, including the first two rounds of last year’s NCAA tournament in Milwaukee. Anyway, without further ado, here are the standings for those 14 games.

All-Time Team Records
Team Won Loss Winning Pctg
Virginia Commonwealth Rams 1 0 1.000
Butler Bulldogs 1 0 1.000
Purdue Boilermakers 9 4 0.692
Northwestern Wildcats 2 2 0.500
Illinois Fighting Illini 1 3 0.250
Vermont Catamounts 0 1 0.000
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders 0 1 0.000
Long Beach State 49ers 0 1 0.000
Iowa State Cyclones 0 1 0.000
Houston Cougars 0 1 0.000
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Fitbit III: Week 40

An overall decent week, with each day finishing over my 6500 step goal.  Things got off to a decent start on Sunday thanks to a birthday celebration with the family.  Monday jumped up over 8000 steps thanks to upgrade related trips around the building at work.  Tuesday was back down around 7000 steps, with Wednesday and Thursday both surpassing that plateau.  Friday was the big day of the week, coming in over 8500 steps thanks to an after work trip to Rosemont with Jeff, Hayley, and Val.  Saturday used a trip down to The Second City to come in over 7500 steps.

Total steps: 52,345

Daily average: 7477.9

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Games Per Stadium – All Time

It’s been 3 years since we’ve taken a look at the now 22 different stadiums I’ve been to and how often I’ve been to them.  With the World Series over and the off season upon us, it’s time to update that list.  Again, I’ve only added 2 additional stadiums in this time, one in 2015 and the other this year.  Different names for the same physical stadium are counted separately.

Games Per Stadium
Stadium Name Total Games
US Cellular Field 414
Wrigley Field 344
Comiskey Park II 38
Guaranteed Rate Field 33
Comiskey Park 12
Great American Ballpark 7
Miller Park 6
Ameriquest Field 4
PETCO Park 3
Ballpark in Arlington, The 3
Target Field 2
Comerica Park 2
AT&T Park Continue reading →
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Fitbit III: Week 39

What can you say about a so-so week that was impressive in no way whatsoever?  The week got off to a slow start on Sunday, where I failed to surpass 4000 steps.  Things got better on Monday, falling just shy of 7000 steps.  Tuesday suffered from a small drop-off but was still above goal.  Wednesday saw another small decrease, falling closer to my daily goal.  Things picked up on Thursday thanks to a post-work dinner to celebrate my birthday.  Friday was the best day of the week, approaching 9000 steps, thanks to another post-work dinner to celebrate my birthday.  Saturday was back down near 7000 steps thanks to a trip to see Trevor Noah with Val.

Total steps: 48,362

Daily average: 6908.9